Hi Tel, He was living in the isle of sheppey for about ten years in a portable home site. His wife passed away about five years ago. He had a son
who died about fifteen years ago, and his daughter runs a pub in Maidstone. Incidentally, I taught him to drive an artic one friday night in the Vic dock , coupling and shunting and he passed and got the job on the monday.
Another company led to the dogs by the union,
Sad to hear,was you a driver on UCC?
Hello,Tel,nice to see you back on the site.Dave and I cannot remember a driver named Gordon Hampshire - the memory does dim sometimes.Was he at Poplar in our time at all? It’s a shame though,we’re one less now. All the best Tel,keep drinking the beer,regards,Dave and Ted. 
Tel, hampshire started at Yabsley street and was called george by his best mate Harry Pretlove. both left Warley at the move to Sheerness.
Hi Ted and Dave,glad you are still here,just got back from the pub, thats the fault of the union,never drank until i started work there. Also I think I know who Cartage Man is we had a driver at jabsley street, he was the only Muslim there he did not work on Fridays and carried a pray mat in his tractor unit. In answer to yoyo5 you might be part right about the union,but if you did not work there it was a firm hard to understand. I started there in 1964, I was 21years of age,it was a farther and son job,I was trained as a panel beater and never drove a lorry in my life,I got my orders to see the mechanic who was a friend of my fathers, I was straight with him as I was ■■■■■■■■ myself,he took me to Jarl wharf put me in a Thames Trader with a scammell coupling before the 5th wheel and told me too pull out the back entrance, just outside was a pub, he told me to mount the kerb and stop,I bautght him 2 pints and he said I had passed the test. He told the office, sorry the union to put me on nights at the vic dock shunting, and said if I cant handle it in a week not to bother.Most of the drivers on the tractor units were about 20 years older than me some had worked there before the war during the war and after,some were jap pows some German pows,The union looked after them and me,when you went to the office and no job was there you went in the pub next door and waited for your job,before the breathalyser,if you was to far gone another driver took your place,yes the union stood by you,the Finnish of the job was the royal docks closing and containers coming,when we got the international work we were paid by the hour guaranteed pay but as always scab firms with cab happy drivers cut the rates and it was all over. union and bad management not keeping up with the times,yes but it was so long ago.
Hello again,Tel.Well said.That’s exactly how we saw it and leaving the job was difficult.If it was still at Poplar,we’d probably still working there.A bunch of characters you don’t often meet.Never had a job like it! All the BEST Tel,keep it up,regards from Ted and Dave. 
keating@makita:
How did you find out,where was he living.?
George Wright the night gate man from 1970 to 1973 at Warley was listening to traffic report on radio and the bloke said it was “foggy” over Hampshire, so George Wright nicknamed George Hampshire “Foggy”, he used to drive fleet numbers 424 and also drove 431 , god bless you Mister Hampshire
Keith W , I have never heard the nickname, that George had for Gordon Hampshire, but its funny because it was a misty old night when Hampshire was on a run to Liverpool and up the M6 he hit a concrete piling that had fallen off a low loader. It took out the front axle of 424. the lorry was a write off but Gordon was OK after a couple of days, after the nasty shake up. Your father George, or should I say Rover 8, was a great bloke and liked by everyone.
cartageman:
Keith W , I have never heard the nickname, that George had for Gordon Hampshire, but its funny because it was a misty old night when Hampshire was on a run to Liverpool and up the M6 he hit a concrete piling that had fallen off a low loader. It took out the front axle of 424. the lorry was a write off but Gordon was OK after a couple of days, after the nasty shake up. Your father George, or should I say Rover 8, was a great bloke and liked by everyone.
May I ask who “cartageman” is please, I probably know you by name and sight, as I used to go to work with “Rover 8” on friday nights and school holidays, yeah “Rover 8” had a nickname for most of you, he used to write me up a daily running sheet from the in/out book every night , dont know if the times were accurate nudge nudge wink wink lol,know what i mean, long before the days of the tacho lol. I also remember Johnny Sheen, Dave Le ader, they used to spend half the night in the gatehouse with “rover 8”, it was more like a little transport cade in there, especially on a winters morning when drivers would come in for their notes and george made them a cuppa, the condensation from the kettle getting wiped off the windows by pat the security daymans uniform hat lol. Ah well,
Yes I am still alive, just, any body still out there? lots of love Terry
Tel,we’re still around,nice to hear from you.More later,Dave and Ted.All the best. 
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Greetings,cartageman.
I might be wrong but I think he was a Liverpool Depót man as I don’t remember Dodge tractors at Poplar.Most of our tractors were 4LW Gardner ERF’s and some Scammells.I stand to be corrected. 
Regards,900x20. (Last lorry a Big J,fleet No.422,SJJ 612F) 
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900x20, actually his name was Arthur Shorthouse and he lived backing on to BCL depot in Thomas St. He was laid off around 1966 after buying some stolen ■■■■. After most of the old Fowler tractors were disposed of 6 Scammel tractors were brought in followed by Dodge tractors with the Eaton gearboxes and then 2 ERF artics doing night changeovers at Meriden with Liverpool depot. If I remember they were 702 and 703. Keats dad drove one of the Dodges. Thew drivers doing the night trunks were George Ripley and George Foley,(an ex Jap POW). The new traffic was bought by the manager prior to John Cooper, and was Cooper who instigated continental and he wanted Scammels with Rolls Royce engines but they wanted 2 years before delivery, hence we had the first 6 Scania 6 wheelers imported into Britain 2 came down from Scotland.
Newmercman, with the closure of continental operations at UCC the trailers and units were sold. Some of each were sold to an Arabic firm and the rest within the UK. these two shown in the photo’s could be from either. The Arabs who bought some of the vehicles ,wanted a UCC driver to go out and work for them running their fleet but the man concerned turned it down. They then hired a group of Brain Haulage drivers to go out and work for them but they wanted home after a while. The UCC man that they tried to hire was a man called Sam McAuley.
I know the firm pulling them trailers is Belgian, other than that I know no more.
Hi Mercman, if its a Belgian firm its probably Van De Meerch. We were ■■■■■■■ to them shortly after the start of continental operations and they pulled most of our unacommpanied trailers. They were tied in to the Vestey empire somehow and once sent a telex to our Brentwood base saying that our drivers should be dismissed as theirs would go faster and further for a days work. regards.